Energizer money

Economic stimulus funding jump-starts bid to build a better battery

Conventional car batteries like these are bulky and limited. Numerous startup companies are attempting to develop next-generation cells that are smaller than a cereal box and which could be used in autos, windmills and solar cells. &#160; (Justin Maxon / The New York Times)

Conventional car batteries like these are bulky and limited. Numerous startup companies are attempting to develop next-generation cells that are smaller than a cereal box and which could be used in autos, windmills and solar cells. (Justin Maxon / The New York Times)

Nick Peterson, a coater operator at International Battery, cuts sheets of chemical-coated foil into precise sqaures for use in a new, smaller type of battery. &#160; (Justin Maxon / The New York Times.)

Nick Peterson, a coater operator at International Battery, cuts sheets of chemical-coated foil into precise sqaures for use in a new, smaller type of battery. (Justin Maxon / The New York Times.)

In a gleaming white factory in Allentown, Pa., Bob Peters was gently feeding sheets of chemical-coated foil one afternoon recently into a whirring machine that cut them into precise rectangles. It was an early step in building a new kind of battery, one smaller than a cereal box but with almost as much energy as the kind in a conventional automobile.

The goal of Peters, 51, and his co-workers at International Battery, a high-tech startup, is industrial revolution. Racing against other companies around the globe, they are on the front lines of an effort to build smaller, lighter, more powerful batteries that could help transform the American energy economy by replacing gasoline in cars and making windmills and solar cells easier to integrate into the power grid.

This summer, the Obama administration plans to announce how it will distribute some $2 billion in stimulus grants to companies that make such advanced batteries for hybrid or all-electric vehicles and related components. International Battery is vying for a modest chunk of it.